


The sides of Finral (Vaude) Roulacase

by Lacris03



Category: Black Clover - Tabata Yuki (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bisexual Finral Roulacase, Black Bulls Squad as Family (Black Clover), Finral Roulacase Needs a Hug, Fluff and Humor, Hinted Finral/Zora, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Ledior Vaude's A+ Parenting, Multi, Not the main plot though, Oblivious Finral, Protective Black Bulls Squad, Protective Langris Vaude
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:49:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,243
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27860297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lacris03/pseuds/Lacris03
Summary: Finral is known to be a happy-go-lucky member of the Black Bulls. But everyone has more than one side to them. Finral is no different. The series of one-shots will mainly focus on the various sides to one Finral Roulacase and how it changes everything yet nothing at the same time.
Relationships: Black Bulls Ensemble & Finral Roulacase, Finral Roulacase & Langris Vaude
Comments: 33
Kudos: 200





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work ever and is purely self-indulgent. I just love Finral and wanted to explore his character a little more. I am sorry to say that my updates probably won't be regular but I'll try to update as often as possible. Constructive criticism is welcome.
> 
> Chapter summary: Finral takes a hit meant for a teammate.

Spells were flying around everywhere on the battlefield. It was a mess. It was taking all of Finral’s concentration and magic to keep the Black Bulls out of harm’s way. He was opening portals at a speed he never thought he could ever reach before. 

Especially for Asta and Yami. Those two completely left the defence to him and he couldn’t let them down. He supposed that he was doing exactly what Yami wanted him to. Surpassing his limits.

Finally, the enemy forces from the Diamond kingdom were slowly decreasing. Just in time too. His own mana was almost depleted. He could feel the sweat dripping down his chin as his breaths started coming out in huffs and puffs. 

But he couldn’t give up yet. There were still threats that hadn’t been taken care of. He ignored the fatigue that was creeping over his body and pushed through. His squad depended on him and he couldn’t afford to let them down.

He was useless when it came to attacking so he couldn’t help them beat the enemies. The only thing he could do was support them and pull them out of danger. Or transport them to favourable locations for attacking.

So he was determined to do that job well. He wasn’t going to slack off just because he was feeling tired. All of his friends were out there risking their lives and he was not going to complain about supporting them. He had just one job and that was keeping his squad alive. 

So he was going to put his all into doing just that. His vision was starting to darken in the edges but he blinked furiously to clear it. Fainting right now was not an option. He needed to pull through for a while longer. Just a few more minutes. 

The battle was already dying down as everyone finished off the last of the enemy forces. It wouldn't be long before they won the battle. Then they could all go home and have some kind of celebratory party. 

Charmy would cook up a feast filled with mouthwatering dishes. Vanessa and Yami will have a drinking contest while Magna and Luck will dare each other to complete ridiculous tasks. They would almost destroy the base until a not yet drunk Yami would toss them out like stray cats. Then they would start a fight and destroy the forest. Again.

Asta would be flying around the room, cheering on Yami and Vanessa, getting threatened by Gauche, pulling Gordon into a conversation or joining the other two maniacs in destroying the forest. Noelle will of course follow Asta wherever he goes, red in the face. Gauche will be staring at his sister's photo the entire time while having nosebleeds while Gray hid behind everything. 

Gordon will brood in the corner, mumbling incoherent stuff while Zora will just go around pranking everybody just to see their pissed off reactions. Their base will be trashed and Finral will end up with damage control duty as usual.

He loved his squad.

Finral smiled at all the things he expected to happen. He shook his head to clear it and focused back on the present. He continued opening portals though they were getting less and less stable. The portals themselves were diminishing in size. 

It was taking more out of him to create a portal than before. He was running really low on mana. But he kept trying to keep up with his energetic squadmates. They were jumping around a lot so he needed to keep up with them.

As he assessed the battlefield again, he noticed one of the enemy soldiers that was supposed to have been defeated stagger back up. He summoned all of his mana and shot a massive fireball before Finral to scream out a warning. 

The fireball was heading straight for Luck.

The next few moments seemed to unfold in slow motion. The fireball shot towards where Luck was fighting. The cheery berserker won’t have enough time to look around, register the attack and dodge. He was still fighting another soldier so Finral couldn’t open a portal for Luck without leaving him vulnerable for the other soldier to strike.

Finral’s portal will not be big enough to take the entire fireball. He won’t be able to open a portal that big in such a short period of time. Luck would still have to bare the full brunt of the fireball. In a split-second’s decision, Finral leapt towards Luck.

One moment, he was standing helplessly on the sidelines. The next, he was between the fireball and Luck with his back facing the fireball. Luck finished off his opponent and turned around just in time to see Finral throw himself at him and shield him.

When the fireball hit, it burnt Finral’s back and it felt like his flesh was being seared off. His back screamed in agony as the pain registered. It was like nothing Finral had ever felt before. He had been stabbed before but that pain did not even begin to compare to this. This pain was not sharp and at a single point. Instead, it felt like his innards were being burnt through and his back felt scalded over. 

He crumpled to the ground as his body gave up on holding him up any longer. The movement sent another wave of pain rippling across his back that surely looked like charred flesh at this point. 

He could actually smell burning flesh and belatedly realised that the smell was coming from himself. His vision tilted and darkened as his eyelids fluttered. The darkness was pulling him into its merciful embrace and he was too exhausted to fight it.

He could have heard people screaming his name but his ears felt like a ton of cotton wool had been plugged into them. Everything sounded muted and nothing was understandable. The last thing he saw was Luck’s ever present smile get replaced by an expression of pure horror. Luck’s body lit up in an impressive display of lightning. Finral did his best to smile at his friend but it probably looked more like a grimace.

“Luck…” he whispered. Then, he let the darkness claim him fully.

The black surroundings receded and gave way to blinding light. Finral slowly gained consciousness and opened his eyes. He regretted that immediately and shut them again to defend against the bright light that blinded his sight.

The next thing his body registered was a dull ache on his back. He groaned softly and wondered what happened. Then, all the memories of the battle came rushing back to him. Luck had been in danger. He had jumped in to intercept the fireball. The agony that spread across his back.

No wonder his back felt so bad. Suddenly, he remembered something else. Luck had been in danger. Luck was about to die. He needed to make sure Luck was safe. His breathing rate increased rapidly as he tried to sit up.

He found that he couldn’t as his body protested at that motion very loudly and very painfully. He fell back with a groan but went to try again. Just then, a hand pushed down gently on his chest, making him lie back down. He looked up at the owner of the hand and almost cried in relief.

“Luck! You’re okay!” But Luck was not smiling. He was frowning. The expression looked so foreign and off on the normally cheerful boy’s face. If Finral didn’t know any better, Luck almost looked like he was close to tears.

“You are okay, aren’t you? Unless you’re not. Oh my god, what’s wrong! What happened? Are you really alright?” Finral started panicking again. He tried to get up again but the hand on his chest was firmly keeping him down.

“You almost died.” Luck spoke softly and Finral almost didn’t hear them. Almost. But he did and the reality of what could have happened slammed into him. Oddly enough, he didn’t feel as affected as he should have been about a near-death experience though.

“I’m fine, Luck. But are you okay?” Finral asked. Luck was silently staring at him for an uncomfortably long time. Finally, he spoke again.

“You almost died, saving me.” This time, Luck’s voice cracked and Finral knew that he did not imagine it. His inner instincts quickly took over. While he couldn’t sit up and hug Luck, he settled for squeezing his hand tightly.

“Hey now! It’s okay! I’m right here. And I’m not going anywhere. I’m sorry for scaring you like that. It’s okay to cry though, you know?” Finral rubbed his hand soothingly. Luck looked like he wanted to break down but held back.

“Why?” That was a loaded question. Finral knew that there were plenty of meanings behind that one seemingly simplistic word. Why did he not open a portal like usual? Why did he jump in like that without warning? Why did he take an attack meant for Luck? Why? The million dollar question.

In the end, Finral answered the question as honestly as possible. He smiled tiredly and said, “Better me than you.”

After that, Luck had gone completely quiet. Finral tried to cheer him up by attempting to start a conversation with him but Luck refused to speak. But he never pulled his hand away and stayed with Finral until Vanessa walked in, probably to take over watching Finral. When she saw that he was awake, she had hugged him tightly and nearly suffocated him again.

It didn’t take long after that for the news that he had woken up to spread like wildfire. Soon enough, all the Black Bulls were piling into his room and squeezing up beside him. Yami didn’t say anything about surpassing his limits and healing up quickly like he normally would. Zora was a lot more subdued. Asta and Vanessa were more prone to physical contact than usual. Finral didn’t comment on any of that though.

He was just glad all of them were safe. He could never forgive himself if anything happened to any of them. The Black Bulls were his everything. Other than Langris, of course. It didn't matter what it took to keep them alive and well. Finral would trade his life for them in a heartbeat. Besides, at the end of the day, he was just a spatial mage who was only good for transportation. The squad's pack mule. He might as well help out in this one way. After all, he was good at taking hits.

(He didn't notice Luck observe him from behind the rest of the squad. He didn't see Luck's face set with determination as he made a silent promise to himself. He would later find out that Luck had stayed with him for the entire time he was unconscious. He had refused to leave his side and let out a menacing aura at anyone who tried to pry him away from Finral's side. Vanessa had just come in to persuade him to eat something in the room instead of starving all day. Afterwards, Luck always made it a point to check up on Finral after every battle by disguising it as a spar. If anyone caught on, they never mentioned it.)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Magna observes Finral's moves and reevaluates his teammate's sanity.

The base was especially loud today. It was absolute chaos. Majority of the Black Bulls being at home could have contributed to the added noise. Usually, half of them will be out on missions. This time, the missions were slow so there wasn’t much to do around here. 

Everyone was restless and wanted to do something. So they converted that restlessness into chaotic energy. Magna loved the Black Bulls but right now, he was seriously contemplating murder as another hole was blown up in the wall beside him.

He himself would have contributed to the chaos but he was feeling very tired from his previous match with Luck. He just wanted to sit down for a moment. Unfortunately, the chairs were all either charred, sliced in half, covered in food or blood. 

This was getting out of hand. He expected Yami to come down any second and yell at them all to pipe down. But it turned out that Yami was taking a huge dump in the toilet so he’ll be out of commission for the near future.

Magna rubbed his forehead as another migraine started. He wondered where Finral was. The spatial mage was always the one to keep them under control. He would have been lecturing them by now. Normally, Magna would laugh it off. But today, he would give just about anything for some peace and quiet.

Deciding that relaxing in the base was a lost cause, he stepped out for a breath of fresh air. He closed the door just in time to avoid Gauche’s mirror attack on Asta for looking at his sister’s photo. Asta’s scream was drowned out as Magna walked away from the base.

Finally. He was able to hear himself think. At this line, Luck would have probably made an infuriating comment like, “You need a brain to think in the first place though!” And then Magna would have gotten annoyed and yelled right back. That would have escalated into a fight again. Magna shook his head in bemusement and continued walking. That was, until he saw Finral.

Magna was going to call out to him but stopped himself when he saw Finral ready his stance. Magna rarely ever got to see the spatial mage practice his magic out of a fight so he stepped back and watched. He had a feeling that this would be interesting.

Finral took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He then released it and when his eyes reopened, they were sharp with utmost concentration. Magna’s breath caught in his throat. He had never seen Finral look so...manly before. Finral was usually the type to be joking around and goofing off. To see this kind of look on him was very surprising. Magna kept his eyes trained on Finral, who flexed his fingers and wrists.

He then opened a portal and leapt into it. The next portal was opened in the sky, at least ten metres off the ground. The one after that was twenty. Soon, Finral was leaping through portals at around forty metres off the ground without breaking a sweat.

Magna watched, slack-jawed, as Finral opened and closed portals in the blink of an eye. His control and precision was known to be impressive. But this exercise showed Magna just how amazing Finral was at this.

He looked graceful as he jumped through the portals, one after the other. Magna was no genius but years with Finral taught him at least some basic knowledge about the portals. Flying into them in an awkward position would slice them in half due to the force behind the poorly timed impact. Opening a portal a second too late could lead to the same result.

Opening portals at the wrong locations was even worse. Even a millimeter off and the way you fall into the portal could again slice you in half. It was a very convenient and reliable, yet risky magic. Their lives were wholly dependent on Finral’s ability and accuracy.

It was meant to be a terrifying thought. But Magna had complete and utter faith in Finral’s abilities. Finral didn’t get careless. Even though he didn’t act like it, he was the calmest person during a battle. He had to be in order to assess the battlefield and teleport them properly.

He was a fantastic spatial mage no matter what anyone else said and he had proven that time and again. This was what Magna kept telling himself to calm himself down as Finral’s speed steadily increased. The more portals he went through, the speed at which he was flung out and leapt back in was visibly increasing. 

It was almost comparable to Luck’s speed. The frequency of the portals appearing was increasing tremendously as well. Magna couldn’t even follow where the portals were. Finral was zipping through the portals that were seemingly opened at random locations. Magna’s own heart was starting to beat faster and he wasn't even the one on that crazy roller coaster.

“Woah! Is that Finral? He’s on the top of his game today!” Magna startled. He hadn’t even noticed some of his friends gathering around him to watch Finral. Vanessa’s eyes were glowing with excitement as she traced Finral’s movements. The bottle of booze was balanced between two of her fingers as she took another swig.

“What amazing control!” Noelle said in awe. She was the one who had the least control over her magic so seeing Finral accomplish a feat that she wanted to someday do looked cool for her. A little hint of jealousy could also be traced in her voice. But her face became determined. “I need to catch up to his level as well! I can’t let myself get left behind! Hmph!”

“Finral-senpai is so cool! He’s so fast and still able to open all of those portals so quickly! And at the right places!” Asta exclaimed. His eyes glittered as he sang praises about Finral.

“Damn, that’s some fast reflexes.” Yami agreed. At some point, he had finished up in the toilet and joined them. It was true. Finral’s reflexes were on point. And his speed was still increasing. Now Magna was getting worried. He knew that they were supposed to surpass their limits and all but the speed Finral was travelling in was getting dangerous.

“Isn’t that a little unsafe?”Magna voiced out his concern.

“He’ll be fine. The boy should learn to surpass his limits anyways.” Yami replied. But Magna heard an underlying concern in Yami’s voice. For a good reason too.

As if on cue, Finral suddenly opened a portal straight for the ground. From forty metres above. At maximum speed. He shot towards the ground at a frightening speed. Magna expected him to open another portal, midair. But that didn’t happen. Finral made no attempt to open another portal to save himself from splattering on the ground.

Magna’s stomach flipped and his eyes widened. “FINRAL!”

“FINRAL-SENPAI!”

“AAHHH!”

“OI!” 

All of the Black Bulls yelled out in shock. Yami even readied one of his spells to at least slightly cushion the fall. It wasn’t much of a fall though. It was more like Finral had gotten shot straight out of a high speed canon.

Magna’s heart leapt to his throat and he flinched, waiting for the worst. Except, nothing happened. Finral never hit the ground. Instead, he opened an inverted portal at the last possible second and was flung backwards like a ragdoll.

Another flick of his wrist opened another portal that kept sending him upwards. But Magna noticed how his speed was slowly decreasing. Another inverted portal later, he arched back midair and started falling back to the ground.

He looked like one of those elegant dancers as he flipped over his body and fell feet first into another portal. This time, the portal led him straight to the ground where he landed gracefully as if he hadn’t just fallen from nearly fifty metres from the ground. Instead, it likely felt more like he fell from a couple of metres above ground due to that last portal. 

Magna finally felt like he could breathe and nearly collapsed as all the stress left his body. That was the scariest thing he had ever witnessed. At the same time, it was exhilarating. 

“Dude, that was awesome! And so manly! I didn’t know you had that kind of guts!” Magna cheered. Finral laughed in embarrassment. 

“It was just a lot of practice. Nothing more!” He tried waving off their compliments but failed. Everyone was bursting with questions on how he did it. 

“Why’d you hide that from us, Finral! What else are you keeping from us, you little rascal!” Vanessa hit his arm playfully. Finral just laughed in response. “ And also, what was that last stunt you pulled there? That was terrifyingly amazing!” 

“I wasn’t intending on doing that last move at first. But Captain Yami always tells us to surpass our limits, right? So I figured that I might as well do something new.” Finral replied. Asta gaped.

“Wait, wait, wait! So that last move was literally a last second move?! But you did it so well!”

“I mean, I knew the theory behind the move and had been thinking about it for some time. It’s just that I didn’t put it into practice till now. I basically rush to the ground at top speed, open a few inverted portals at the last minute to combat the downward force pulling me down to the earth until my resultant force is almost zero. After that, I let gravity take over and use my portals to land safely. That’s it.”

Magna’s jaw dropped. “That’s it! Why are you saying it like it was no big deal! It was absolutely awesome and the fact that you managed to pull it of on the first try is even more amazing!” 

“He’s right, kid. Where did you learn to leap through portals midair so quickly anyways?” Yami cut in. Noelle perked up too. She wanted to learn how Finral managed to control his magic so perfectly.

“Oh, when I was a kid, I wanted to fly. I had spatial magic and could open portals by that age so I decided to try it out. So I just jumped off the nearest cliff and practiced flying up and down the cliff.” Finral shrugged his shoulders and added like it was an afterthought, “Don’t all of you feel the need to experiment something due to childish curiosity?”

“...”

“...”

“...WHAT!!!” Magna couldn’t believe this. He thought that Finral was the sane one in their group. He had horribly miscalculated. Jumping off a cliff to learn how to fly when he was a child just for the fun of it was in no way sane. In fact, Finral might be even more insane than Magna. He was probably on par with Luck at this point.

“You leapt off a damn cliff for fun and you call that childishness?!” Yami sounded just as shocked as the rest of them. They had literally just discovered that Finral may possibly be more insane than any of them. He just knew how to hide it better. The person in question had the gall to tilt his head in confusion. Like he wasn't sure why everyone was so shocked. As if what he did was a normal thing that all kids did at that age.

“Yes?” 

Magna felt his migraine slam back into him at full force. Guess that made him the sane one in the Black Bulls. Magna, the sanest of the squad. Magna, the pyromaniac. Magna, the delinquent who used his magic to hit fireballs like a baseball. Dear gods, they were all doomed, weren’t they.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews! Anyways, the theory behind the portals in this chapter was inspired by 'Grip strength' by solarwitchwrites. I hope you enjoyed this story!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finral resolves to never use his magic to hurt others again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Blood and minor character death. It's just as oc who dies. This chapter turned out quite dark, Haha. Just my take on why Finral refuses to learn any attack spells.

Finral was known to be the black sheep in the Vaude family. The spatial mage who had no attack spells. The failure of an older brother who ran away when the responsibilities turned into burdens.

His father could never get him to use his magic for attacking. No matter what Ledior did, his eldest son simply refused to attack with his magic. He had a strange repulsion to it. Even under the threat of being disowned, he still stood firmly by his stance.

It was infuriating for his father. The man resorted to constantly comparing Finral with his younger brother, Langris, in hopes of getting his eldest son to see reason. But Finral never budged.

Everyone just assumed that the reason for this was because he was a pacifist by nature so anything that required hurting others repulsed him. They were only half right. Some thought that he was too scared to use his magic to attack due to the destruction it caused. They were also only half right.

Nobody knew why Finral downright refused to use his magic for any offensive spells. Nobody was there when Finral swore off hurting anyone with his magic. Nobody knew what happened that day.

Finral was seven years old when the incident that changed his perspective on life happened. Langris was six.

The two boys were practicing their magic under Ledior's supervision. Even at that age, the brothers were pitted against each other. Once again, Langris was progressing at a much faster rate than Finral. This led to the usual lecture from Ledior. The man was clearly losing his patience.

Finral shook like a leaf under his father's wrath. Nothing good ever happened when he was subjected to Ledior's anger. Unfortunately, being the failure he was, he was the main cause of his father's disappointment most of the time.

To the side, mother-Liliane- was praising Langris with fervour. She clearly didn't like Finral and she made sure that the boy knew it every time he was in her vicinity. Like right now.

"Langris is getting better so quickly! Pretty soon, he may be ready to become a magic knight! Maybe, he will even join the Golden Dawn squad! Langris is such a talented dear. What have you accomplished, Finral?" She sneered his name like it left a bad taste in her mouth. It probably did.

Finral flinched at her tone. His brother's obvious contempt only made him feel worse. He wanted to prove to them that he could get stronger. But no matter what he did, it seemed like he only messed up.

"You need to pull yourself together, Finral! How are you supposed to be respected as an heir to this family if you can’t even perform a simple attack spell?” Ledior yelled.

I’m trying, Finral wanted to say. I practice everyday to please you, father! Instead, what came out of his mouth was, “I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologising and give me results! Or is that all you’re good for? Grovelling at others’ feet!” Ledior spat. Finral flinched but said nothing. He remained quiet throughout the verbal lashing Ledior gave him.

“You can’t even speak up for yourself! Typical!” Lilliane commented. Finral shrank in on himself but still said nothing. He had found out that while angering his father was a huge mistake, giving Lilliane a chance to punish him was a death sentence. It was better to remain invisible in front of her. Everything he did set her off. The worst part was, he didn’t know why she hated him so much. But she always said it was his fault and his father never argued so it probably was.

At that moment, a servant walked in. She bowed to Ledior and gave him a letter. As he read through it, his eyebrows sank lower. He turned to Finral and Langris.

“An important business has come up and I need to attend to this. Lilliane will need to accompany me as well and since none of your tutors are available today, this training session is cut short.” He looked like he swallowed a lemon when he said that. He hated it when he felt like his sons were ‘slacking off’. Unfortunately, the two boys weren’t old enough to practice magic by themselves.

“I’ll deal with you later.” That part was aimed at Finral. The boy stiffened and gave a small nod of acknowledgement.

“Of course, father.”

“Be good Langris! Mommy has to go with your father now! And Finral? Don’t cause more trouble than you already have.” Saying so, Lilliane sniffed at him and strutted away. She honestly reminded Finral of a peacock. She was already wearing a colourful dress and a hat with feathers on it. All she needed to fully transform was wings.

The door shut and Langris turned to Finral. “So you still can’t manage that attack spell, huh? Weakling.” Finral was hurt by that but he covered it up with a weak smile.

“Ha, yeah. I guess not all of us can be as great at this as you.” He aimed to appease Langris but it seemed to have the opposite effect. An indecipherable emotion flashed across Langris’ eyes but it was gone too quickly for Finral to identify it. Langris settled for his usual scowl instead.

“Good night, failure nii-chan!” He sneered. After that, he allowed himself to be escorted by one of the servants back to his room. Finral clenched his hands into a tight fist and bit his lip. A servant walked forward to escort him to his own room as well but he shook his head.

“I’ll find my own way back later. I want to stay here for a while longer.” The servant looked hesitant, probably due to the fear of his father but agreed. She bowed and stepped out of the room, leaving Finral alone.

That was when he let his tears finally fall. He couldn’t afford to look even more pathetic in front of his family. He needed to buckle down on his training like his father often said. But it was hard. The stress of pleasing his family and upholding duties was not something Finral wanted for himself.

He didn’t want this responsibility. He really was just a weak failure. He sniffled and sobbed quietly for a while. After all the tears had dried up, he readied his stance again and tried to do the spell just like he was taught to. A pathetic small orb formed.

He threw it at the wall but the orb wavered and disappeared before it even hit the target. But Finral needed to get this. He needed to make his father proud. He needed to prove himself to Langris.

He tried again and again. Every attempt ended in failure. No matter what he did, he couldn’t shave off the space like he wanted to. After two hours of trying, he finally managed to create an orb that reached the target. It barely made a dent though since all his magic was almost used up.

He decided to call it a day. He didn’t want to push himself too far and faint. A noble never fainted. If his father caught him unconscious in the training room, Finral would get punished. If Lilliane caught him, it would be a lot worse.

He forced his legs to start moving and trudged to his bedroom. He cursed the size of his house as he walked past the long hallways. His room was on the other side of the mansion. This was going to be a long walk.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps hurrying down the hallway. He got ready to greet one of the servants like always. But when the person rounded the corner, the words died in his throat. The servant who had come in to pick up Langris was staring back at him.

She was carrying an unconscious Langris.

The servant-kidnapper- let out a stream of curses under her breath. But Finral’s entire attention was on his little brother. Langris was not stirring and his body was completely slack in the woman’s hold. Langris looked helpless.

Finral felt sick. Langris never looked helpless. It was Finral who always looked helpless. Langris was the strong, powerful one. But right now, he wasn’t moving. That thought was repeating in Finral’s mind over and over again like a broken record.

“Langris!” Finral shouted, reaching for his brother.

“Don’t move, brat!” The woman shifted her hold on Langris abruptly so that she was holding something pointed at his neck. Finral’s blood ran cold. It was a knife that glistened under the moonlight. The woman continued speaking.

“Don’t move and I’ll ensure that you’ll live. All I need is this boy so I have no reason to take you too. But I won’t hesitate to kill him if you sound the alarm. And maybe I’ll kill you too!” She snarled.

“N-no! Please, don’t take Langris! Why are you doing this?” Finral yelled out in panic.

“Quiet brat! Or do you want your brother to die so bad!” To threaten him more, the woman pressed the knife to Langris’ neck. It broke skin and a drop of blood escaped the new wound. Finral immediately shut his mouth.

“Good. As for why, I need money! But you nobles always horde all the riches for yourselves while all of us common folk are suffering from poverty! But this may be my big break!I can hold this little weasel for ransom and you Vaudes are sure to pay handsomely! After all, he is the family prodigy!” Finral listened to her plan in horror.

He needed to do something. He couldn’t let the woman take his brother away. As the woman cackled, he slowly started gathering his mana for one spell. If he could just shave off the ceiling above the woman, it could cause the debri to fall and knock the woman out before she has the chance to hurt anybody.

However, the woman unfortunately noticed the mana gathering at Finral’s palm. Her eyes widened as she recognised the spell.

“No way I’m getting outdone by a weak brat like you!” She hissed. “I warned you that I would kill your baby brother if you tried anything, didn’t I?”

She pulled back the knife to slit Langris’ throat.

“NO!” Finral abandoned his previous plan and just wildly threw the orb he had been preparing. He expected it to maybe graze the woman at best or completely avoid her at worst. But what happened next would haunt him for life.

The orb crashed straight into the woman’s skull.

The way the woman’s head snapped back at the force and how her body sagged before crumpling into a heap as blood pooled under her would be etched into Finral’s memory. It would be demonised in every single one of Finral’s nightmares.

He would continue to have these nightmares(memories) even after he joined the Black Bulls. In that moment, Finral’s mind went blank. His knees hit the floor as he stared listlessly at the body. Langris had slipped from the woman’s grasp and was also on the floor. He still had not woken up yet but he was unharmed other than that scratch on his neck.

Finral crawled over to him and made sure of it. He checked Langris on autopilot and then turned to look at the form lying on the floor beside them. He tried to make his way towards her but found that he couldn’t.

All his energy and residual adrenaline had left him as soon as he had made sure that Langris was okay. His vision swayed and tilted before going dark.

When he woke up, the first thing he did was throw off his covers, stumble to the bin and throw up. Even after he had emptied his stomach’s contents, he was still retching. His mind was still repeating the entire memory in his head when his father entered the infirmary.

Ledior might have talked to him about what had happened but Finral wasn’t listening. He couldn’t hear a word anyone said. Everything was just a jumble of mess that he didn’t have the energy to make sense of.

He only remembered asking one question. Was Langris alright. As soon as his father gave an answer that sounded like an affirmative, he was lost to the mercies of his own mind again. He didn’t know how long he was stuck like that. He just went through the first couple of days after waking up in a haze. It was like his sould was detached from his body and he was staring at himself from an outsider's point of view.

When he finally got back to the real world, he learnt that his parents believed that some guard had killed the woman. The guard had reported that the woman had taken both Langris and Finral hostage but he had made it in time to subdue her. Unfortunately, he killed her in the fight that had followed,

The guard had been promoted due to this act. Finral saw him once, while he was walking around the mansion. The guard looked nervous to see him. He was probably afraid that Finral would expose him or get back at him for taking the credit. But Finral said nothing and just thanked the guard to his surprise. He was fine with giving the credit to someone else.

He wanted nothing to do with that woman’s death. Everybody but one believed the tale that guard had spun. Surprisingly, it was Langris, who was most sceptical. He had stared at Finral long and hard when he heard the report. He went along with it but he never seemed to buy it.

In the end, he must have let the incident slide since he never commented on it again. He must have also wanted to forget about it, though for different reasons. After that, Finral was unable to perform a single attack spell. He was adamantly against it. Every time he tried to, the vivid image of that woman he had killed when he was seven appeared in front of his eyes. Instantly, he would pull back and stop the spell. The blood on his hands made him feel too sick. He couldn't bare the thought of doing something like that again.

Nobody but him may know the truth of what really happened that night. But the whispers in his head alone were enough. His family called him too soft and incapable of becoming the head. But he knew what he was. He knew exactly what he was. He hated himself for it.

He took someone's life with his own two hands when he was seven.

And he was determined not to let it happen again. He wouldn't allow it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zora finds out why one never makes Finral mad. Ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the wonderful reviews and for supporting my work! The last chapter was dark so here's a lighthearted chapter to balance it out!

Zora was stumped.

He was known to be the most annoying of the Black Bulls and he wore that title with pride. It was basically his identity. The troll amongst the bulls. That one guy who always pranks anybody and everybody.

He had a lot of fun riling up other people. It was first-class entertainment, if you asked him. The reactions from his victims were so much fun to watch. At first, it was just to piss off the magic knights who disrespected everything his dad stood for. But then, he got addicted to it.

Slowly, it became a habit. It was like his thing at this point. Whenever people thought of Zora, they always thought of his pranks. His introductions themselves were pranks. Like the one with Asta where he used a Rainbow Stick Bug. 

So he prided himself with the ability to infuriate people around him, be it comrades or enemies, constantly. It didn't stop or die down even after he joined the Black Bulls. While he acknowledged them as magic knights in their own right, they were not spared from his pranks.

His pranks for them weren't cruel or anything too bad. They were more of an aggravating inconvenience. Like that one time he had changed Magna's hair dye to pink. The guy didn't even realise it until Luck pointed it out before asking for a fight. He had blushed more vibrantly than his new hair colour.

Zora was also responsible for greasing the doorsteps of all the bedrooms. Watching the Boack Bulls slide around, unable to get a firm grip on the floor was a treat! Only Luck, Yami and Finral were spared. Yami because he somehow balanced immediately after slipping with a smug look on his face. Luck, because he usually bounces around on a normal day so he bounced straight over the greasy floorboards. Finral because he never used the door in the first place since he preferred his portals.

Zora didn't stop there though. He went on to glue the cutlery to the tables so everyone had to resort to eating with their hands. That day, Charmy had made soup. It was glorious. He had replaced the perfumes for the girls with skunk essence. The girls had to take seven showers to remove the scent.

Asta was on the receiving end of all these practical jokes most of the time. His reactions were just too funny to stop. He was also dense enough to fall for the pranks so many times without learning. Zora had a blast when he was pulling the squirt's leg. 

So all the Black Bulls had to suffer from Zora's relentless pranking. They all had gotten angry with him at one point or the other and people like Magna and Noelle had sworn revenge on him. Luck, while he never stopped smiling, did release a ton of static electricity that one time Zora used a trap to dump him in a pile of rubber wrapping. 

Yami, Vanessa, Gauche, even Gordon, had all gotten angry with his pranks. So why wasn't Finral cracking? 

The only person who had not gotten angry with Zora was Finral. No matter what Zora did, Finral never snapped. He would complain about his seniority and cry crocodile tears. He would yell as an exaggerated reaction. 

But he never got genuinely angry. 

Not like the rest of his crazy squad. All of them were absolutely done with Zora's nonsense at some point. But not Finral. He seemed to have endless patience and easily brushed off every single one of Zora's pranks with his dumb carefree attitude. 

It drove him up the wall. 

It wasn’t just that either. Zora had never ever seen the guy get angry. Ever. Even when Yami dragged him around like a potato sack and made him open redundant portals, or when Luck and Magna accidentally attacked him during one of their fights or when the Black Bulls made a mess of things, forcing Finral to be the one to clean up. Finral never got angry. Sure, he whined, sulked and cried crocodile tears but that was all. No other indication saying that he was angry.

Zora was the one getting irritated instead. He had a reputation to uphold but this one guy just won’t snap. He was unexpectedly turning out to be the hardest one to crack. Zora had tried everything. 

Sticking all of his furniture to the ceiling, offering him cookies that he used salt to make instead of sugar, pouring honey into his shoes and filling his pillow with bugs. But beyond the exasperated reactions, Finral didn’t get irritated or angry. 

This was getting ridiculous. Everyone had a breaking point. And Zora was a master at finding that. At least, he thought he was. But Finral might give him a run for his money with the way he was acting. Zora was running out of ideas. 

It was no longer about keeping up his record anymore. Though that would be a bonus. Now, Zora was just actively trying to find out how to make Finral angry. He was extremely curious about how Finral was when he got angry.

Some started yelling up a storm and storming off. A few got violent or stewed in their anger silently in a corner. Others tried getting their petty revenge. But Zora needed to know how Finral dealt with his anger.

Nobody could stay calm forever. Everyone had to let out their emotions. Finral couldn’t be some kind of saint or something. Even saints got angry once in a while. Zora just needed to find the right buttons to push.

And so he thought. And thought. And thought some more. At some point, the others must have gotten worried because Asta had come by and asked him if he was alright since he wasn’t pulling any pranks recently. Zora’s response had been to offer him a can of drink which exploded in his face as soon as he opened it. 

Asta had left grumbling with Zora laughing on the floor. But that sort of prank wouldn’t phase Finral. That guy would probably just brush it off like everything else and just complain about for a grand total of ten seconds before moving on. He would probably still wear that dumb goofy smile he always wore.

Zor really wanted to see what was underneath it.He can’t always keep smiling like that being jovial about everything. Right? Zora sighed for the umpteenth time that day. Vanessa, who was drinking while laying spread out on the sofa beside him, looked at him. 

“What’s wrong? You look like an old man when you keep sighing like that.” She slurred.

“I’m trying to come up with a prank that can make a noble boy actually get angry.” Zora answered. Suddenly a thought struck him. “Have you ever seen him get angry before?”

“I guess, once. There was one time when some bandit kept insulting him the entire time during the fight. Then he made some lewd comments that I don’t want to repeat about me. Finral destroyed him after that in seconds. But I don’t think that’s what you’re looking for.” Vanessa said. Her head was lolling to one side and she was clearly going to conk out.

She was right. It was not what Zora needed. He couldn't start insulting the Black Bulls now in front of Finral because for one, he already did that on a daily basis so it won’t have the intended effect. Also, Zora had standards. He wasn’t going to sink that low.

He continued to brainstorm when Vanessa spoke. “I mean, there was once that I saw some music box in Finral’s room. I tried touching it but that dumbass slapped my hand away. Maybe you can steal or something if you want his attention so bad.” She slurred. 

Zora chose to ignore the second part of the last sentence and pondered over Vanessa’s idea. “That could work. Thanks for the idea.” But when he turned to look at her, the witch was already snoring. He shook his head and walked away, concocting his plan.

The next day, Zora was grinning wider than usual. Everyone around him was staring at him wearily. Whenever he got like that, it was never a good thing for them. Magna was the one to ask. 

“Why do you look so happy? What did you do? Another prank?” 

“You could say that.” Zora smirked and his grin became sharper.

“What? Who was it on this time?” Asta cut in.

“The noble boy.” 

“Finral-senpai? Haven’t you given up on him yet?” 

“Stop making it sound like I’m trying to get him to notice me!”

“Sure…” Zora’s eye twitched as he fought down the urge to send a Rainbow Stink Bug flying at the shrimp. Asta’s loud cries may drown out Finral’s. He needed to catch every moment. A dark aura started surrounding him as he thought of all the various scenarios that could go down as he kept grinning widely.

Everyone inched away from him slowly. “What did you do to Finral?” Vanessa asked suspiciously. She was fully sobre right now since they had run out of booze to her complete disappointment.

“I followed your advice, of course.” Everyone turned to Vanessa who looked confused.

“What advice?”

“I stole noble boy’s music box and hid it somewhere in the hideout. I even spray painted his room saying ‘ZORA WAS HERE!’”

“WHAT!?” Vanessa yelled in shock. The other Black Bulls looked just as shocked by her outburst as Zora felt.

“What’s wrong with that? I mean, sure it’s kind of mean but that’s Zora. And Finral doesn’t seem to mind his other pranks too much either.” Magna said. But Vanessa shook her head vigorously.

“No, no! You don’t understand! Finral really, really loves that music box. You should have seen the way he glared at me when I tried to hold it. He guards that thing with his life! And you stole?! What were you thinking!” 

“I was just listening to your suggestion!” Zora yelled back. 

“What suggestion?!”

“The one you made last night! You told me to steal Finral’s music box!”

“I was drunk last night! Who in the right mind listens to anything I say when I’m drunk?!”

Their argument was cut off when a yell echoed through the house. It sent shivers down everyone’s back. “ZORA IDEALE!” 

“W-was that Finral?” Noelle squeaked. Gauche looked up from his picture of Marie to look at Zora.

“You’re dead.” He said like it was a fact. Asta laughed nervously.

“Come on guys! Don’t you think we’re overreacting? It’s Finral-senpai! I’m sure he won’t kill anyone…” 

BANG!

The door was kicked open so hard it flew off its hinges. The wood crashed into the opposite wall and cracked. Everyone stared at the now destroyed door and slowly turned back to the doorway.

Asta and Noelle screamed and ran for the hills. Luck tried to fight Finral but a very pale Magna dragged him away. Gauche got up calmly and walked away without making any of his usual comments or threats about damaging Marie’s photo. Grey and Gordon escaped hastily from the danger zone.

Vanessa patted Zora’s shoulder. “We’ll start preparing your funeral.” She smiled sympathetically and then vanished. Zora was left alone in the room with Finral. Zora swallowed hard and tried to stop shaking like a leaf.

“So, you got my message, huh?” Finral said nothing. His eyes were hidden by his hair so Zora couldn’t tell what he was thinking. An eerie silence fell over them. Zora refused to admit that he squirmed. He did not.

“Zora,” The man in question jumped when Finral finally talked. “Where. Is. My. Music box.” The words were barely above a whisper but he might as well have yelled. Zora opened his mouth and regretfully, spoke before thinking again.

“It wouldn’t be fun if you knew.” And just like that, his fate was sealed. He and his damn mouth. The air around them thickened until Zora felt like choking. Finral covered the distance in three strides. His hand shot out and he grabbed the collar of Zora's cloak and pulled sharply.

Zora lurched forward until he was nose to nose with the devil-he meant Finral. And then, Firal lifted his head to show his face. Zora, the man who had faced down countless magic knights and won, fought against some of the best in the selection exam and took part in battling the elf possessed people, screamed at the top of his lungs.

  
  
  
  


“Um, should we help him?” Asta spoke up from outside the hideout. He was cut off by a shrill scream followed by Finral yelling, “DIE!” 

Crashes and explosions ensued as the hideout shook and trembled. Noelle squeaked and hid behind Asta who took cover behind Magna who stepped behind Luck.

“I think that not stepping into that will help us stay alive for a while longer.” Magna said. Another loud crash was heard and smoke began coming out of the windows. The trio collectively winced at Zora's cry of pain.

“He was an annoying guy but a good man. He will always remain in our hearts.” Vanessa stated solemnly. 

“Don’t expect me to come to the funeral. I’m not missing out on visiting Marie.” Gauche replied.

“STOP TALKING ABOUT HIM LIKE HE’S ALREADY DEAD!” Asta yelled.

“I want to fight Finral next!” Luck said. Everyone ignored him.

“Maybe we should start looking for the music box. That could calm him down, right?” Noelle made the first and only intelligent suggestion for the day. It was agreed then to start searching for the music box that started this entire execution.

In the end, Vanessa found it hidden behind the broomsticks in the closet. “I think I know why Finral is so mad about it now.” She said.

All of them peered over her shoulder to look at what she was pointing at. The box itself was nothing too impressive. It was just a plain wooden box with a small mirror when opened and all the gears inside. 

But on the bottom corner of the box, something was engraved into the wood. It read ‘ _ Happy birthday niichan.’ _ To their knowledge, only one person ever called Finral niichan. They decided after that that Zora could afford to be punished for a while longer before they returned the music box. It was only fair after what he had done without thinking. 

When Yami came back home, he was downright pissed at the sight of the partially destroyed hideout. But when he learnt that Finral was the one who did this in his fit of anger, Yami immediately calmed down. No way he was getting on the the other side of _that._ He didn't have a death-wish. After everything settled down, Finral apologised and Yami let him off the hook easily, patting his shoulder approvingly for standing up for himself.

The other Black Bulls related to him what had happened to cause such destruction from the normally calm spatial mage. When he heard about it, he turned to Zora.

“I hope you learnt your lesson brat. My ride isn’t someone to be trifled with.” Zora nodded dazedly from his bed. He wouldn’t be getting back up for a while. He was most likely going to be bedridden for at least a week. But now, Zora had learnt an important life lesson.

“He’s the scariest person I’ve ever met…” But beyond all that, Zora had to admit that he was impressed. After all, not just anyone managed to terrify him that much. He might just be able to get along with noble boy. Though he’ll need to be more careful around him from now on. He didn’t think he could survive a second round.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finral gets hit with a truth spell. The Black Bulls make some shocking revelations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for not posting in such a long time!:( But I couldn't get this chapter right. It was always nagging at me that something was missing or out of place. I had to keep rewriting it. I'm still not fully satisfied with the chapter but if I kept editing, I'll never post so I decided to just put it out there. Once again, sorry for the delay!

Noelle was just minding her own business when she saw Magna, Luck and Vanessa sneaking around the hideout. She opted to ignore them but it was easier said than done. They were being so painfully obvious about the fact that they were probably going to do something stupid. Something that would land them all in trouble

The curiosity was eating away at her and she was itching to ask. But she needed to keep her composure. Desperation for answers for a possibly petty scheme was not befitting of a royal of her status. Although…

NO! She needed to turn away and ignore them. What they did was none of her business. She had her dignity to uphold. She would not fall prey and get dragged into another one of their antics again. 

She had had enough of those to last her a lifetime. But at the same time, they were acting suspiciously. It was getting really hard to dismiss them. As she was wrestling with her inner thoughts, Asta being the dork he was asked in her stead.

“What are you guys doing?” Noelle almost sighed in relief. Now she wouldn't ruin her image by willingly involving herself in their tomfoolery. And if she happened to overhear their answer, it wasn’t her fault.

“Didn’t you hear?” Magna started saying loudly. But Vanessa quickly slapped her hand over his mouth, effectively shutting him up. She glanced around to make sure no one alse was eavesdropping before she whispered.

“Just follow us. We’ll tell you on the way.” The two juniors, unable to contain their curiosity, followed the older members. As they walked through the confusing hallways, Vanessa told them what was going on.

“Finral got hit by some truth spell on the last mission. So now, he can only speak the truth for the next twenty four hours! We’re just going to go see him and wish him good health since we’re his friends!” Asta and Noelle blanched. That can’t be all. They levelled their seniors with a look that clearly said, ‘ _ really’. _

Magna pushed Vanessa’s hand away from his mouth. That’s not all though! We also want to wrangle out some good blackmail material to use against him later. He’s always so private about his life so we figured that this would be a good opportunity to milk as much information out of him as possible!”

“Think of all the juicy gossip! I can just taste them right now!” Vanessa squealed. Asta and Noelle nodded. Now that sounded more like them. Then they turned to Luck in a silent question.

“I just want to have fun!”

And that was that. Asta and Noelle decided to tag along. They had nothing left to do and were bored out of their minds. Noelle didn’t want to admit it but she wanted to hear what Finral had to say too. She realised that she knew next to nothing about Finral.

All she knew was that he was a spatial mage, formerly from the Vaude family and had a talented younger brother in the Golden Dawn. It would be interesting to know more about him. And it may help strengthen their squad’s dynamic. It would build the trust between them.

Nothing more. That was what she kept telling herself. It was certainly not because she was just thirsty for some gossip like some lesser commoner. No, absolutely not.

Finding Finral’s room took a bit longer than expected. The rooms seemed to keep shifting around all the time. It seemed crazy but Noelle couldn’t think of any other explanation. Finral had been confined to his room for as long as the spell’s effect lasted on him by Yami.

Finally, after a lot of wrong doors, the group finally found Finral’s room.They opened it to see Finral sitting on his bed, hunched over. He jolted in surprise as they stepped into his room before relaxing.

“What are you doing here?” He asked nervously.

“Oh, we just wanted to see if you were okay!” Vanessa crooned. Finral raised his eyebrow sceptically. Vanessa chose to ignore that.

“So I hear that you’ve been hit by a truth spell!” Finral started sweating nervously.

“Ah, yes? Why?” Magna jumped straight in for the kill.

“Were you the one who ate my pancakes yesterday?” 

“Yes!”

“Dude, why? That is so unmanly!” 

“It was too tasty! Charmy had outdone herself and I wanted to eat more. Yours was the closest plate and you weren’t paying attention to it so I just took them! Sorry!” Finral apologised quickly.

“The spell really does work! And you told me that Nero took it when I asked yesterday! Liar!” Magna accused good naturedly. Vanessa pushed him out of the way.

“Hold on! That’s not the important stuff! We need to get to the good bits! Come one guys, think! It’s a one time chance that we won’t get again so we need to make the most of it!” Vanessa pondered over her question for a while. Finral was clearly searching for a possible escape route but found none.

Finally, Vanessa snapped her fingers. “Ooh, I know! What’s up between you and Langris? I mean, I know that he hates you although you love him to bits but why?” Finral’s face twisted into a grimace and he clearly didn’t want to talk about it. Asta stepped in.

“Hey, isn’t this a bit too-” 

“I ran away.” Finral blurted out. Everyone paused and turned to him. He tried to stifle the words but they kept flowing. “I ran away from home like a coward and left all of my duties with Langris. He was already burdened by my parents to be the Vaude prodigy. I dumped my responsibilities as a heir onto my own younger brother and ran away to be as free as a bird while Langris suffered. I deserve his hate. Every bit of it.” 

“Why did you run away in the first place?” Noelle asked before slapping her hand over her mouth in horror. She realised that she had unnecessarily pried into her comrade’s life without permission but it was too late. Finral had to answer.

“I couldn’t take it anymore. Everything was too much. My brother’s contempt, my father’s disappointment and Lilliane’s hatred. I didn’t want to stay in my prison for a second longer so I did the only thing I could at the time. I ran. I also just wanted to get away from my punishments.” That made them all pause. They had a sense of dread about this but Vanessa still had to ask.

“What do you mean, punishments?”

“Sometimes, when I make too many mistakes or mess up horribly, my parents would punish me. It depended on the mood they were in. If they were in a particularly forgiving mood, it would stop at only tossing me into  _ the room. _ It was just an empty room with white walls everywhere. They would keep me locked in there without my meals for however long they see fit. They used to do it until I got the spell they wanted me to learn but they realised that I would not be able to survive for that long so the punishments got better!

“It really wasn’t anything too serious! I needed to be punished properly in order to mature so they did what they had to do! On worse days, the punishment was mostly whipping. I hated those but I deserved them anyways! It was simply a disciplinary action. That was what father always said. 

“But then whenever we had guests over at our house, father didn’t want an embarrassment like me tarnishing his reputation. So he would pretend that he had no other son other than Langris. He was afraid that I may show myself to the guests so he would throw me into an old dungeon in our basement and cover my face with a metal mask. Those were the worst punishments and I always cried all day until the mask came off. I never told Langris since he was too young to know. Father stopped doing it after I turned twelve though as he trusted me enough to stay in my room. It never went beyond that, I swear!” 

The room was filled with pin-drop silence. Nobody dared to move. Everyone was frozen as they tried to process what they had just learnt. Luck didn’t even look like he was  _ breathing. _

“What in the world...what else could your father have even said to you?” Magna stammered. The truth spell worked for rhetorical questions as well, apparently. Finral answered that even though no one was willing to find out.

“He said that I was being a waste of space and a cheap replacement for my mother. Lilliane told me that I should just die quickly so that they could avoid a huge scandal when Langris becomes heir instead of me. They both told me that my mother would be ashamed of me.” He said those last few sentences swiftly before cramming his lips together and biting down on his hand to prevent any more things to be revealed by him.

His eyes were wide and flitted wildly to every person in the room before starting to water. Muffled cries escaped his mouth as he pushed his way past them and ran out like his life depended on it.

Meanwhile, the remaining occupants were left to let the new revelations sink in. Vanessa looked absolutely crushed as she stood there, staring into space. Asta was trying to make sense of everything that had just happened. Luck just stood there smiling though the smile looked more crazed than ever. Magna was opening and closing his mouth while Noelle was gaping at where Finral had run off to.

Just then, Yami walked in. “Hey idiots? Why was my ride crying and running away back there? MInd explaining…” He took in their grim expressions. “I’m not going to like this, am I?”

  
  
  
  


Yami was right. He  _ really  _ did not like this. He found out that his dumb subordinates had disobeyed direct orders and caused Finral to relive some of his worst memories. Then he found out about said worst memories and was very tempted to fly to the Vaude mansion then and there and exchange a few  _ words  _ with that boy’s so-called parents. And if he were to kill someone along the way…

After hearing all of that, his blood boiled. Not only did the Vaudes mentally scar him, they did do emotionally and physically as well. Only sheer willpower and a single thread of rationality was preventing him from wiping those scum off the face of the planet. And by the looks on the other kids’ faces, he could tell that they felt the same way.

Nobody messed with a Black Bull and got away with it. Even if it was in the past. But first, Yami had to punish these little gremlins.

“While I am glad to know more about Finral’s upbringing,”  _ so that I can bring him to therapy soon. And commit murder to make it look like an accident.  _ “You five still disobeyed my orders and caused your squadmate to suffer due to your lack of tact and foresight. You willingly harrassed answers out of Finral by taking advatage of his situation. For that, you will be punished.”

Yami expected disbelieving looks and protests but for once, they were quiet. By the guilty looks on their faces, and Luck’s smaller, faltering smile, Yami could tell that he won’t face much resistance at the moment.

In the end, he gave them all toilet cleaning duties and yard weeding duties for a month. They searched for Finral all day but couldn’t find him. It was like he had just vanished. Yami and Asta couldn’t even sense his ki.

They reluctantly agreed to give him his space and let him come around on his own. But by the next day, Yami had had enough and was preparing to call Julius when a portal opened at the doorway.

Finral walked through with his usual easy-going attitude. Like nothing had happened the previous day. It was obvious from everyone else’s expressions that they were unwilling to let go of it. But Finral clearly wasn’t going to touch the subject with a ten-foot pole so they dropped it.

They let him fall back into his old routine without much fuss. No one commented on how exhausted he looked for the first few days after that incident. Everyone kept their mouth shut and went about their daily lives.

But just because they didn’t talk about it didn’t mean that the rest of the Black Bulls had forgotten about it. Everyone was secretly contemplating the best way to commit murder and hide the bodies when they next had the  _ pleasure _ of meeting Ledior and Lilliane.

Maybe they could even convince Langris to join after giving him a few good punches.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yami and Finral have a sparring session. Yami discovers that Finral was not completely hopeless in a fist fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has more dialog than I'm used to but it was a fun chapter to write. It is a based on a silly thought I had which developed into this. It's shorter than usual but I hope you guys enjoy!

Usually, Finral wouldn’t get involved in sparring sessions with people like Yami. The captain was way too hardass for someone like Finral to face. Most of the time, he would just decline the sparring session or make up some sort of excuse to get out of it.

He was too frightened for his life to even dare to go up against Yami, solo. And usually, Yami would accept this and just let him do whatever he wanted. But today, his captain wasn’t having any of it.

“But captain!”

“No.”

“But-” 

“One more complaint and I’ll go twice as hard on you.”

That shut him up quickly. It looked like today was just not his day. All he could do now was pray that he wouldn’t get too beaten up before he lost.

He gulped and followed his captain out of the hideout, onto the training field. The grass was still charred from Magna and Luck’s earlier match. Finral trudged and took his place opposite of Yami sullenly.

He hadn’t had the chance to write his will yet. Surely Yami wouldn’t damage him too much, right? He  _ was his  _ ride. So Yami would want to keep him around for a while longer at least. Right?

He held back a whimper as Yami unsheathed his sword. He braced himself with a decent fighting stance that Yami had drilled into him when he first joined the Black Bulls.

_ “No squad member of mine is going to be a useless sack of potatoes! If you wanna stay here, you had better learn to hold your own weight in a fight!”  _

So Yami had basically forced him to get at least the basics of fighting when he had joined. It did help with missions and Finral was able to get in a good punch or two if he was lucky. But that was against those who were normal human beings.

Yami, on the other hand, was not normal. At all. He would be considered lucky to come out of this spar with just a few bruises and scrapes. 

“Don’t look like I’m sentencing you to death! Get ready!” Yami barked. Finral stiffened.

“Yes!” 

Yami got into his stance before rushing at Finral. The spatial mage immediately panicked and his instincts kicked in. Dodging the blade coming at him, he did what he would do for a punch. He grabbed the sword. 

Except a sword was not a fist. So as a last minute decision, he gripped it tightly, hoping that his hand won't get too cut up before the fight had even begun. What happened next astonished both of them. 

The katana broke.

It actually  _ shattered. _

Finral gaped at the broken bits of the sword in his hand. The other end clattered to the ground. Yami froze and slowly turned his head to face the younger man.

“Is this what katana is made of? It’s so flimsy!” Finral exclaimed.

“F-flimsy?!” Yami couldn’t believe it. The katana may not have been made of titanium or something but it was still made of steel. In what world was that  _ flimsy? _

“You think my sword is flimsy!” Yami demanded.

“Well, yeah! Didn’t you see how easily it broke! It’s as easy to shatter as wood!” Yami was about to yell back before he paused.

“Wait, wood? How would you know how easy wood is to break?” Finral blinked.

“It’s how I train my fingers.”

“...What!” 

“I grip a chunk of wood or something harder and squeeze it till it shatters. I need to train my fingers so that I can open portals quickly you know.” Yami stared at him. And then stared some more.

Then he straightened and started pulling Finral into the hideout. Ignoring Finral’s protests, he reached into the cupboard in the kitchen and pulled out a chopping board.

“Grip this and break it.” Finral spluttered.

“W-wha-why?!”

“Grip. Now.” Finral huffed.

“Okay, okay!” He stared at Yami suspiciously but gripped the chopping board. It was made of strong wood in order to withstand its usage. The wood was hard to scratch. Charmy had made sure of it.

Finral squeezed and broke it in two seconds with one hand.

Yami whistled lowly. “Damn…”

“Are you satisfied now?” Finral asked.

“No. Come.” Yami dragged an exasperated Finral all around the hideout and made him grip and break all sorts of things. Each time, the material of the item got stronger and harder to break. Finral broke every single one of them.

The Black Bulls that were ambling around with nothing much to do paused and stood to watch this little show. Soo, they had joined in and were giving Finral challenges and bets to break things much to his amusement.

Finral was on the roll. He wasn’t breaking a sweat as he kept shattering anything they gave him using only one hand. When they told him to use his less dominant hand, he said that he had trained himself to be ambidextrous.

It was a surprise after surprise with the spatial mage. Yami had to admit that he was impressed. He certainly hadn’t expected this from the usually wimpy Black Bull. But as he looked down at his shattered katana, he figured that there was a lot more to Finral than what meets the eye.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Golden Dawn and the Black Bulls run into some(a lot) of trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Graphic depictions of violence and torture, referenced suicide, child abuse
> 
> I'm really happy with how this chapter turned out since I think I managed to capture the essence of it properly. It's dark and loaded though so don't read if you're not comfortable.

“How did this even happen!” Klaus yelled in exasperation. 

Klaus, Yuno, Mimosa, Asta, Noelle and Finral were currently in a cage that restricted their magic. Heavy cuffs restricting magic was also keeping them from escaping. But nobody was particularly shocked too much by the turn of events. 

I mean, they were with  _ Asta. _

Of course they would get captured exactly when they all let their guard down after a particularly hard mission. They really should have known better than to set up a camp before Finral had enough mana to open a portal back to the kingdom.

This was a rookie mistake but even people who had prolonged exposure to the craziness that followed Asta were prone to make such a mistake at some point. Now, they just needed to find an out of this sticky situation. 

“Of all the times to get captured!” Asta groaned. He was put off since he hadn’t even managed to put up a decent fight before they were captured. The enemy had sleeping gas of all things. It knocked them all out as soon as they inhaled it.

Yuno didn’t have enough time to blow the gas away so he was sulking in the corner of the cage. The most embarrassing part was that they had completed the mission to drive away a bunch of dangerous bandits who were terrorising a town in the forsaken realm.

How they could finish a mission of that difficulty level, yet fall for a few dirty tricks hurt their pride. Luckily, Nero slipped away unseen. She just needed to report back to headquarters and they’ll be saved. Hopefully.

If not, they could always bust themselves out. Judging by Asta and Yuno’s mirroring frustrated expressions, both boys would prefer the second option. They were antsy for a good brawl against their kidnappers.

“Come on, guys! We just need to remain patient and rational!” Finral tried to placate them

“Yeah, I’m sure our squads know that we’re missing by now!” Mimosa added.

“They better be!” Noelle muttered. The dark and dingy cage was in no way pleasant. It also reeked on top of everything. She was definitely taking a bath when they got back to the hideout. She couldn’t believe that she got this careless to let a bunch of ruffians actually overpower them. This was disgraceful and a huge blow to her pride.

Just then, the heavy door beside their cage opened. All of the occupants looked up to see four people enter the room. Three of them were bulky men who didn’t look like they'd put up much of a fight when it really got down to it. The final one, a petite lady, was the problem. 

All of them could sense that she was quite strong despite her lacking size. The look on their faces did nothing to ease their wariness.

“Hey! What do you want with us!” Asta shouted.

“You’re a loud one, aren’t you?” The lady responded in a breezy voice. Her demeanor told them that she didn’t view them as much of a threat. Well, she would be sorely mistaken. She spoke again.

“Anyways, we need you magic knights to tell us all about your kingdom’s defences! Including information about the magic knight squads!”

“Not in your life!” Asta growled. The rest of them also glared at her. She remained unfazed. Instead, her grin widened to become disturbingly wide.

“I was hoping you’d say that! See, I’m awfully bored nowadays! Good entertainment is so hard to come by! So I need an outlet to let out my pent up boredom on, you know? So we’re going to play a little game!” 

“What game…” Klaus asked warily.

“Oh, it’s an easy game! I’ll just need one of you to volunteer to be my little plaything! Let’s see how long it takes you to scream! Once you do, you lose the game and I move onto the next one! Of course, any one of you can stop me at any time if you want! Just tell me what I want to know and I’ll kill you painlessly!”

“Yeah right! Who do you think you are! As if I’m gonna tell you anything!” Asta exclaimed. 

“He’s right!” Yuno agreed. Both of them were wearing defiant expressions. The lady laughed.

“Oh, you say that now! But let’s see how long you’ll last! Now who’ll be the volunteer?” All of them wore a brave face. Asta and Yuno placed themselves slightly in front and jerked their chin upwards. The lady smirked as her eyes landed on her ‘volunteer’.

“How about you!” She pointed a sharpened nail at Finral. Immediately, the cage broke out in protests. But none of them could do anything as she reached in and roughly pulled Finral out of the cage before shutting the gate again.

She shoved Finral onto the cold, hard concrete ground and pressed a knee on his bag to pin him down when he squirmed. He gasped when his head slammed into the ground since his arms were cuffed behind him so he had nothing to brace himself with.

He grit his teeth as the lady gripped his arm tightly, digging her nails into him with a sharp grin. She turned to face the others smugly. Every single one of them were glaring at her darkly. Asta was downright growling.

“I swear, if you hurt him-”

“Don’t make me laugh! What can you do from there!” The lady laughed. To his horror, she grinned sadistically and twisted Finral’s arm and pulled. All of them heard something pop and Asta felt sick. But the victim didn’t make a sound.

Finral had gone completely still.

The lady lifted a confused eyebrow before her eyes narrowed. “So you are one of those people with a high pain tolerance, huh? More fun for me then!” She reached down to Finral’s fingers and slowly bent one of them in an unnatural direction. It snapped and hung limply.

“Stop!” Noelle screamed.

“No…” Mimosa was staring on in horror. 

“Finral! Please, scream!” Asta yelled in panic. But the mage in question didn’t seem to have heard him. In fact, he looked lifeless. His eyes were glazed over and he was not reacting to anything.

It was terrifying Asta more than anything.

Finral was known for his cowardly personality and soft nature. He would cry out when he stubbed his toe against a stool. But he was not making a peep even as the lady kept braking more and more of his fingers. The lady was growing frustrated at the lack of response as well.

Her eyebrows were furrowed as she broke the last finger yet Finral had not screamed once. He remained unseeing and unresponsive.

“It looks like this one might be a hard one to crack, eh?” She quipped though she was evidently irritated. She was answered by murderous looks on all of their faces. 

“I’M GONNA KILL YOU, YOU HEAR ME!” Asta screamed.

“Finral, please...please, scream...I’m begging you!” Noelle was sobbing as she watched her squadmate get hurt so brutally. 

“You monster!” Klaus spat out. Mimosa was clenching her fists tight enough to draw blood. Yuno’s jaw was twitching with how tightly he was clenching it. His eyes were blazing with pure, unhidden fury.

The lady paid no heed to their words. She pulled out something from under her dress and held it over Finral’s back. Asta’s blood ran cold.

It was a knife.

A goddamn  _ knife. _

All of them yelled, screamed or sucked in a sharp breath when she slashed across Finral’s back. The cut was deep and the blood was already staining the green shirt red. She didn’t stop despite their screams and kept slashing Finral’s back over and over. 

She didn’t stop until his back was a mess of mangled flesh. Asta wanted to vomit. Noelle was on the verge of fainting with how pale she looked. Finral never made a sound.

Honestly, he looked more dead than alive.

“Finral?” Noelle squeaked out softly. She prayed to every god out there that he was alive. She didn’t know what she would do otherwise. This was too much for her to handle.

The lady muttered curses and looked helplessly at the other three henchmen. They too shrugged and the woman became more frustrated. She pressed the knife to the corner of Finral’s lip and dragged it towards his ear slowly. 

The cut tore open to reveal the teeth and inside of Finral’s mouth. Ignoring the death threats from the others, she did the same to the other side while muttering, “Why. Won’t. You. Speak!” 

Mimosa was shaking violently while Asta was screaming profanities until his voice was cracking. Where was everyone? Where was the rescue party when they needed them!

As if on cue, the wall on the other side burst open. All of them jerked their heads up to see Captain Yami and Vice-Captain Langris standing on top of the rubble. Nero was flying behind them. Both of them looked annoyed that their subordinates got captured so easily.

“Alright, show’s over. Now hand over those kids or I’ll kill you.” Yami glared. 

“Even though the brute phrased it so crudely, you best do what he said if you want to keep your lives!” Langris huffed haughtily. The men rushed at them but they were quickly tossed out of the way.

“Shit!” The woman cursed. Both Langris and Yami turned towards her. Langris with a smug smirk and Yami with his usual nonchalant gaze. They both looked like this was an average Tuesday for them. Maybe, it was.

Then, they saw Finral.

The exact moment they saw Finral was very obvious. Their eyes widened and they stilled. Then, their faces darkened and the aura they gave out was suffocating. In an extraordinary burst of magic that showed everyone how powerful they actually were, they blew the place away.

  
  
  
  
  


In reports, it was said that the woman had caused the building to self-destruct in a last ditch attempt to bring them all down and failed. She was the only one who took herself with it. Everyone other than Finral were unscathed.

But people like William and Julius could connect the dots. They saw the state of Finral when he was rushed into the emergency room and it didn’t take long to conclude that it was the captors who had done that. 

From there, they also could figure out the real cause for the total destruction of the area where they were held and the reason why no one could recover the woman’s body. They didn’t say anything though.

From the way the other captives looked for weeks, they could tell that the captors deserved every last bit of wrath that a certain captain and vice-captain had thrown at them. Asta and Noelle refused to leave Finral's side and snapped at anyone who tried. The Black Bulls were strangely subdued and dim. Yuno and his gang had eyebags for weeks after that incident. All who were involved were reported to suffer from nightmares every night for weeks. Asta and Noelle especially would wake up kicking and screaming. 

When Finral finally woke up, he was shocked to see Langris of all people sitting at his bedside. Asta and Noelle were behing him, leaning on each other and asleep. Though it was clearly very fitful judging by their scrunched up faces. Langris straightened when Finral woke up.

"Why?" He demanded. Finral, who was still under a lot of pain killers and medicine, was not able to find the intellect to dig deep into the underlying meaning of Langris' question. So he eloquently said, "Huh?"

Langris growled in frustration and the lines of stress on his forehead deepened. "Why didn't you scream! You're supposed to be the weak one! So how? How were you able to bear with all that!" Langris screamed. Finral flinched back. Langris almost never lost his composure. Not in public. He tried to think through his drug-muddled haze. The prior events came rushing back to him and he finally put together what Langris was asking. He smiled at his brother ruefully.

“I read in a book once that you can lock away your consciousness inside of yourself. It’s sort of like a really deep sleep. Pain can only be perceived by the brain so I just shut it down. Don’t worry! I couldn’t feel a thing, I swear!”

Instead of being comforted, Langris looked almost heartbroken. “How did you know how to do it then if you only read it somewhere?”

“I had practice.” Finral replied. At first, Langris was confused. Then he remembered. 

_ Finral getting beatings and whipping from their parents. Him curling up into a ball and not reacting to anything they did. Langris getting scared of how limp he would become.Them getting tired of screaming at him when he refused to react and locking him away in his room. Him smiling at the end of the day like an idiot that Langris wanted to punch so badly while simultaneously wanting to hug him forever and never let go. _

Langris swallowed harshly. He did not like what all of these warning signs were pointing to. That would mean that he had been ignoring the serious problems going on under his own roof. It would mean ackowledging that his brother had the right to flee from his own house all those years ago. Finral subconsciously reached out and held Langris’ hand when he saw his younger brother’s face twist due to his inner turmoil. For once, Langris didn’t immediately push him away. Instead, to both of their surprise, Langris squeezed his brother's hand back and held it.

Finral wasn’t able to stay awake for long after that and fell back asleep. Langris held his hand throughout and didn’t let go. Never again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for sticking with this story till the end! This will be the final chapter since I can't come up with more ideas that are on par with my previous ones. So I want to end this on a high note with my best chapter yet! Goodbye!


End file.
